Last time, Bloom and the others went with Stella back to Solaria to save King Radiant, Stella's father, from making the terrible, terrible mistake of marrying the insidious Countess Cassandra. Before the wedding, The Trix and their allies overhead a conversation between Cassandra and Zahidia; Cassandra planned to assassinate Radiant, making her sole monarch of Solaria, while at the same time forcing all of Solaria's magic away and sending it to Xaldo.
Bloom and the others figured out Cassandra's plan on their own and with help from Stella's former bodyguard Gabrielle, as well as her mother, Queen Luna, stormed and stopped the wedding. But then we learn that Cassandra didn't have Radiant under a spell. Rather, the dark magic that was on him was a triggering spell that would, and did, curse Stella. But thanks to some handy Fairy Dust from The Winx, Stella was saved, and so was Solaria.
Zahidia the decided to save Cassandra and her spoiled brat of a daughter Chimera. But the rescue was shorted lived as Zahidia sentenced the diabolic mother and daughter to lives of pain and misery for their failures. All the while this was happening, The Trix and their allies were being persuaded by Marissa. To do what, they don't know yet. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 27: Mind Blowing Revelations
It was a week after the fiasco wedding on Solaria. Stella and Brandon had stayed behind for another day to make sure things were alright. True, some things would never be completely back to normal, such as the fact that Radiant and Luna were avoiding each other like the plague again. One little disagreement was all it took to bring back the arguments that lead them to divorce in the first place.
But Stella wasn't all that bothered. She knew that her parents would never make up, that it was for the best that they both remained separate, and in Radiant's case, single.
But what really concerned Stella was that the magic of her home world was back in balance. The sun was shinning all over Solaria again, and the rain was back in its prepared schedule.
As for Stella herself, she was reaffirmed as the heir to the throne, while at the same time, she, in a private ceremony that would soon be made public, formally knighted Brandon as her champion. As far as Solaria and the rest of the Magical Dimension was concerned, Stella and Brandon were officially engaged to be engaged.
With one problem solved, Bloom and her friends went back to Alfea to continue with their school work, while also trying to solve their other problems.
"We know that the source of Vicky's power is a corrupted ember of Dragonfire," said Bloom as she and The Winx sat in their dorm common room, "and we also know that she and her sisters, and those others, are working for Zahidia to set up a new R'leyh empire. What we still don't know is what their overall plan is, or how to defeat Vicky."
"Vicky and The Trix have been going to one world after another," said Musa, "causing a lot of chaos and discord wherever they go."
"And they're stealing ancient magical artifacts," said Tecna, "artifacts that nobody knows much about. These items have symbols that haven't been translated, nor is there any clue as to what the purpose of the artifacts are."
"And then there's Zahidia herself," said Flora, "from what you saw of her on Wallach VII, Bloom, she's worse than The Trix, Darkar and the Shadow Riders combined."
"I think you're right," said Bloom.
"Getting back with the artifacts," said Layla, "The Trix were looking for something in the library when they attacked Alfea. Maybe there's an artifact here."
"And there may have been one at Cloud Tower when they took it over!" said Stella, "and there was one at the museum!"
"There were two at the museum," said Bloom, "and they got those and the one at Cloud Tower, and who knows how many more they've already taken. And we don't even know what those artifacts are for."
"I think I may know what they're for," said Carmen as she, Morgan and Elise walked in.
"Don't you ever knock?" Musa asked in an annoyed tone.
"That would make things boring," said Morgan, "anyway, we may have the answer to one question."
"We've been researching the old R'leyh empire," said Elise, "or, at least Carmen and I were. Morgan here was too busy playing with that damn game of hers."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Morgan said innocently as she pulled out a red Nintendo DS and began playing.
"You're doing it now," said Carmen, "Elise and I kept telling you that we needed your help, but you kept saying 'well, I'm on level 3.'"
"I do remember Level 3," said Morgan, "but other than that, I'm drawing a blank." With that she returned to her game.
"Just what are you playing?" Bloom asked. She looked closer and realized that it wasn't a DS but a similar machine that could be bought in Magix, but this machine was far more advanced than any handheld gaming device found on Earth. This machine didn't need game cartridges, the games were already installed.
"Just a role-playing game," said Morgan, "sort of like what you call Dungeons & Dragons. It's really good, I can't put it down."
"I've played and beaten this game an all the difficulty settings already," said Elise, "a child could do it. Now if you want a great strategy game, you need one where you command entire armies, thousands upon thousands of solders and specialized units."
"We have games like that on Earth," said Bloom, "Warhammer and Warcraft."
"Could we get back to the point?" Carmen asked, "this is important."
"Oh, right, sorry," said Bloom.
"I'm all ears," said Morgan as she kept playing her game, but with the sound turned off.
"I already said that, from the stories I heard," said Carmen, "the empire had mind control machines, and they used them to maintain their grip on the galaxy."
"I know," said Bloom, "you said that on Wallach VII."
"Well it's true," said Carmen, "from what we learned in the library at Cloud Tower, and this is from the restricted section by the way, the R'leyh empire had several machines that enslaved minds, they called them Constructs. Now here's where things get murky again. According to legend, when the old empire collapsed, nearly all of the Constructs were cast into a black hole."
"Why'd they do that?" Flora.
"Wouldn't it have been simpler to take them apart?" Tecna asked.
"They did disassemble one," said Carmen, "but the machine was massive to begin with, larger than any mane-made object at the time. It took months to take just one apart, and there were still eleven more."
"There were twelve altogether?" Musa asked.
"And they used them to enslave the galaxy?" Layla asked.
"There wasn't as many civilized star systems that long ago," said Carmen, "twelve were enough to enslave an area as big as the Magical Dimension is today. But one is enough to seize control of dozens of systems and turn billions of innocent people into obedient slaves, completely and totally loyal to whomever pushed the button."
"And now the new empire is making a new Construct," said Flora, "or at least putting one back together."
"How big were these machines?" Bloom asked.
"Bigger than the great Pyramids on Earth," said Carmen, "so big that they had to be stationed in space, no place on a world was big enough to house them, and they required more energy than any man-made power supply could produce at the time, but there's no record of what their power source is."
Carmen was about to say more, but then Griselda came into the room, "the Headmistress wishes to speak with you girls, all of you."
"So what exactly powers this thing?" Icy asked as she, Stormy, Darcy and Vicky, stood on an observation balcony overlooking the massive room that held the Construct. They were taking a break from their planning of Bloom's demise. The titanic, diabolical machine was nearing completion, with only a few gaps in its pyramid-shape remaining.
"I asked that when I first got here," said Vicky, "and again when I brought back the first piece that I found. I was told both times that it would drive me completely insane if I were to even get a glimpse of the power source in it. Those working inside the machine have to wear special goggles that block out nearly all light and are working with artificial senses."
"It's that bad in there?" Icy asked, "I can handle it."
"Being driven insane is only one side effect," said Vicky, "there's also high levels of radiation in there. Everyone wears led-lined suits and work in very short shifts. One minute in there without protection and you'll be as good as dead in 24 hours."
"Okay then, we won't go inside," said Stormy in an uncomfortable tone, as if she was imagining herself hopelessly insane and dieing from radiation exposure. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
"How many more pieces are needed?" Darcy asked.
"Most of what's needed can be manufactured here on Xaldo," said Vicky, "we've reverse engendered the Construct that much by now. But there are three essential pieces that we need to find in order for the machine to be fully activated, and they're figuring out where those pieces are as we speak."
"So we're stuck here until they find them," said Icy as they left the balcony and went back to the room where everyone else was waiting for them.
"Just until we figure out a plan," said Vicky. She then stopped in her tracks, a look of agony on her face as she clutched at her chest. She collapsed to her knees and cried out, "it burns!"
"Vicky!" exclaimed the three younger witches.
"It burns!" Vicky exclaimed again.
Toro, Trabon and the others came running up the corridor, "what happened?" Toro asked.
"She just fell!" a frantic Darcy said.
"It's like she's having a heart attack!" said Icy, "but it's not."
"It is not an attack of the heart," said Rolf as the blue-haired warlock used his magic to scan Vicky, "rather, more like a case of indigestion of acid."
"Heartburn?" Stormy asked, "are you saying this is just Acid Reflux?"
"No," gasped Vicky, "not heartburn, something else…worse…much worse."
"What can we do?" Trabon asked, "what do you need?"
"My room…!" said Vicky, "get me…my room!"
Toro and Trabon carried Vicky to her quarters in the palace, while Icy, Stormy and the others followed.
"I've never been to Vicky's room," said Naz.
"None of us have," said Kevin, "she wouldn't let us near it."
"Who knows what dark and vile secrets Vicky-witch has in her domicile," said Rolf.
"I'll bet she has some really creepy stuff," said Sara.
"And some cool collectibles," said James.
"Or maybe she has a friend for Plank in there!" said Johnny.
"Touch nothing in my room!" exclaimed Vicky, "I'll rip all your heads off if you so much as put a finger on my stuff!"
"She's always been crazy about people touching her things," said Stormy to Trabon.
They reached Vicky's room and went in. It seemed to be a typical witches room, full of dark and vile objects and spell components for dark magic. But there were books, thousands of books on dark magic, as well as historical texts and tomes on potions.
"I honestly didn't know she was this much of a bookworm," said Darcy to Toro, "she wasn't when we were kids."
"Second closet," said Vicky, pointing to a set of doors that was next to a walk-in closet that had all of Vicky's outfits. Icy opened the second set of doors that revealed a potions lab. The equipment had a spell on it that had it running on its own without anyone needing to stir any cauldrons and such.
Vicky pointed to a distillation coil that was apparently the last step in the process of whatever she was making. The end of the coil was dripping a blue liquid onto a smaller table next to the bigger one.
"What the…!" exclaimed Vicky. She struggled out of Toro and Trabon's arms and ran over to the table, searching for something near the distillation coil, "where is it!"
"Looking for this?" Everyone turned around to see Diaspro standing at the doorway, a corked vial of blue liquid in her hands.
"How did you…when did you…!" exclaimed Vicky, "you give me that, right now!"
"Oh, I will give you this marvelous concoction you've cooked up, Victoria," said Diaspro as she twirled the vial between her fingers, "after you've told me, and everyone else here while you're at it, what this substance is and what purpose it serves."
"I'll tell you exactly how you'll die, you mother-f#ck$ng cockroach!" spat Vicky. Icy and the others were then shocked to see that the veins on Vicky's skin were now more distinct and pulsing dark purple.
"Well if you're going to take that tone with me," said Diaspro as she idly held the vile in her fingers, as if threatening to drop it, "I might as well disintegrate this potion, whatever it is."
"NO!" shouted Vicky, both desperate and frightened. She then cringed in pain and clutched at her chest with one hand, while holding out her other hand, "I'll tell you everything, just give it to me!"
"Okay then," said Diaspro, "catch!" she tossed the vial into the air.
Icy caught it with her magic before it got close to the ground. Glaring contemptuously at Diaspro, she handed the vial to Vicky, whom hastily uncorked it and swallowed it in one gulp.
Vicky then collapsed to the ground again, but now out of relief as the pain seemed to subside. She was looking better by the second as the purple glow faded from her veins. She then stood up and glared at Diaspro, "alright, you demented little fairy princess, "I'll tell you everything," she then looked at her sisters, Toro, Trabon, Kevin, Naz and the others, "I'll tell you all everything. I owe you an explanation, but first," she then set up another vial underneath the distillation coil, and it slowly began to fill with the blue liquid, "now, let's talk."
Bloom, Stella, Musa, Flora, Layla, Tecna, Carmen, Morgan and Elise, followed Griselda, not to Faragonda's office, but to one of the larger, now empty, classrooms. Faragonda was waiting for them, as well as Sky and the boys, along with Mirta, Jake, Kurt, Payton, Mace, Kegan, Rei, Travis, and everyone else.
"I've asked you all to be here," said Faragonda, "because the information I've discovered concerns you all. In one way or another you're involved with the curse that has afflicted Domino."
"You've discovered the cure!" said Bloom.
"Yes," said Faragonda, "but to know what the cure is, you must listen, only then you will understand how to save Domino, Bloom."
"We're all ears, Ms. F." said Musa, while Stella, Brandon, Carmen and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"This story begins many years ago," said Faragonda, "as you've already learned, The Ancestress coven kidnapped a wizard from Domino and stole the ember of Dragonfire from him. All people native to Domino have a Dragonfire ember infused with their hearts when they are born, this you know.
"You also know that at some point, somehow, they corrupted the stolen ember with dark magic and later fused it into Vicky."
"We know all of this," said Bloom, "but what does it have to do with the curse?"
"Everything," said Faragonda, "for the twisted ember in Vicky is the key to removing the curse."
"I don't get it," said Stella.
"There's a surprise," muttered Morgan.
"Try to pay attention, both of you," said Faragonda, "this information could save your lives and the lives of others. Now, after weeks of extensive research, and with generous help from Headmaster Saladin of Red Fountain and Headmistress Griffin of Cloud Tower, we've determined that the curse is a bloodline curse."
"Of course!" exclaimed Elise as she stood up in shock, "a bloodline curse! I should have realized it from the start!" Morgan and Carmen had also stood up with shocked looks on their faces
"Should have realized what?" Sky asked.
"What is a bloodline curse?" Riven asked.
"Don't look at me," said Mirta, "I've never heard of it."
"Not many people outside the dark arts have even heard of it," said Carmen, "you don't know about it yet, Mirta, and won't until your last year at Cloud Tower."
"We know because we've already graduated," said Morgan, "and we know only what it is, but now how it's done."
"But what is it?" Mace asked.
"It's a long-term curse," said Elise, "involving a very complicated ritual in which a lot of blood is spilt from sacrifices, and the caster has to shed some of their own blood as well. The blood from the caster ties his or her family to the curse, for as long as the family lives, the curse will remain in effect.
"For example, one noble family has a vendetta against another noble family. Family A wishes family B to suffer for generations, so a witch or wizard ties his or her family to the curse. Once completed, Family B will remained cursed as long as the caster lives, and when he or she dies, if he or she has family, say children or a sibling, then the curse will remain as long as the family of the caster lives, as well as their descendents and their descendents and so on and so forth."
"We only read about the curse," said Carmen, "it's one of the most complicated and dangerous pieces of dark magic there is, for the ritual must be performed without error. Terrible, unspeakable things have happened to those who have botched the ritual.
"It's even more dangerous since those whom are cursed will try to wipe out the family of the caster, for the only way to remove the curse is to kill every last member of the caster's family."
"Then that means…" said Sky.
"Yes," said Faragonda in a grave tone, "the only way to remove the curse afflicting Domino, is to kill the last living descendents of the ones who cursed Domino; The Ancestress Coven."
"We have to kill The Trix," said Bloom in an equally grave tone, "all four of them."
"Alright," said Vicky as she showed everyone to a sitting room adjoining her bedroom, one also filled with books on history, potions and dark magic, but there was plenty of room for everyone to sit down, "you have questions, so I'll start with the most obvious. That potion I was so hung up about is what's keeping me alive. The modifications to my body that has given me my powers, they're slowly but surely killing me."
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Icy asked, "we could have dome something."
"There's nothing you could have done, little sister," said Vicky, "neither you, Darcy or Stormy can help me, not right now anyway.
"But onto the second questions; how did I get in this mess in the first place? Well, you have to go back over 150 years. The Ancestress Coven, the ancestors of myself and my sisters, they had lusted after The Dragonfire for centuries already. They tried to invade Domino several times, and failed each time. But with this attack, they didn't leave empty handed.
"They had taken a wizard, a loyal retainer to the royal family of Domino. The Ancestress Coven tortured this wizard almost to the point of madness, but he refused to betray his kingdom. In the end, the three old bats lost patience and ripped his heart out. But before the still-beating heart stopped, the three witches extracted the ember of Dragonfire that all people of Domino are born with.
"It took The Ancestress Coven over a century to find the right combination of dark magic to corrupt and twist this Dragonfire ember to their pruposes. Then they had to wait may more years for the right person to fall into their grasp. They were waiting for someone naturally adapt in the dark arts, someone with whom they could infused this dark ember."
"That that person was you," said Kevin.
"Guilty as charged," said Vicky, "though I wasn't the old bats first choice. They wanted someone already experienced, someone they didn't want to have to wait for to grow up, but they determined that if the dark ember was infused with an adult, he or she would probably be killed, or driven hopelessly insane. And if that didn't happen, then the person would one day become so ambitious as to turn the dark ember on the Ancestress Coven.
"No, they needed a child, a newborn child, for normal Dragonfire Embers were infused with babies on Domino all the time without harming them. They wanted a child with whom they could mold to their will and desire, someone with whom they could use as a weapon of dark magic.
"I was to be that weapon. I wasn't more than three minutes old when the witches took me from my mother's arms. I don't remember it, thank the everlasting darkness, but what happened was that the Ancestress Coven used a ritual of their design to infuse the dark ember in me.
"I survived, of course, and began growing up with this thing in me, this piece of artificial dark magic," she looked at Icy, Darcy and Stormy, "you know what happened a few years later; Bloom was born, along with the prophecy that she would have the full force of The Dragonfire in her. The three old bats decided not to wait for me to finish growing into my powers, and it cost them their lives. The worst part was that they died before they could tell me what they had done to me. They would have on my 13th birthday, but I was left in the dark, literally.
"This was unfortunate for me, for as I approached my 18th birthday, I began suffering from unbearable bouts of heartburn. At first I thought it was Acid Reflux and took the proper medicine, but nothing medical could remove the pain. As graduation came near, I was at the top of my class at Cloud Tower by the way, I was nearly incapacitated by the pain. I put up with it as best as I could, I was barely able to function as a student.
"But then I found out the truth. I went through some of my parent's old papers, looking to see if what was wrong with me was a hereditary condition. I found out what the old bitches had done. I then realized that the dark ember was causing the pain, and that it was killing me."
"Well that's just great!" said Layla, "we have to kill The Trix."
"Icy, Darcy and Stormy are stronger than they've been before," said Musa, "and they also have Vicky."
"And we also have to deal with Toro, Trabon and those other baddies with them," said Helia, "and who knows what other baddie they've collected."
"And there's Zahidia and R'leyh," said Sky, "who knows what they're capable of."
"It's not as bad as you think," said Faragonda, "two of the Trix have already been slayed."
"Oh, right," said Stella.
"We killed Stormy on Jurai," said Bloom.
"And I atomized Icy on Salusa Secundus," said Carmen, "but they came back. If we kill then again, as well as Darcy and Vicky, they'll just come back again and again."
"You misunderstand," said Faragonda, "due to the nature of the bloodline curse, once a family member passes away, whether it is from natural causes or intentional death, that person is severed from the curse. It doesn't matter if they're resurrected, they are no longer part of the curse."
"Then all we have to do is kill Darcy and Vicky," said Jake, "simple enough."
"I will kill Darcy!" said Elise, "Morgan destroyed Stormy's body on Jurai, while Carmen finished Icy off, so now it's my turn."
"And we'll take care of Vicky," said Mace, while Payton, Kegan, Kurt and the other Domino survivors nodded in agreement.
"It may not be as simple as that," said Tecna, "are we certain that the four Trix are the last living descendents of The Ancestress Coven?"
"And there's the possibility that either Darcy or Vicky could have a child," said Timmy, "and that would prolong the curse."
"I may be part witch," said Mirta, "but right now, my fairy half is horrified at the thought of killing a child, even a child of darkness."
"I don't want to murder a child either," said Flora, "I don't want to murder anyone at all."
"Destroying an evil person in order to safe the lives of innocent people," said Layla, "that's one thing. But to actually commit murder…I honestly don't know if I can do that."
"This coming from someone who has threatened to kill her parents on several occasions," said Morgan.
"I wasn't thinking right," said Layla, "but that's not the point. I would never murder anyone, let alone my parents."
"I could never murder anyone either," said Stella, "I just couldn't."
"No fairy would intentionally take a life just for the sake of killing," said Faragonda, "it's part of our nature. A fairy would never harm an innocent, let alone commit murder."
"But this isn't exactly murder," said Bloom, "I mean…well…what I'm trying to say is…" but Bloom couldn't find the words to justify her thoughts. Even though she hated the Tirx, especially Vicky, the idea of intentionally seeking them out to destroy them appalled her.
"Don't worry about it, Bloom," said Sky, "when the time comes, I'll do it."
"No you won't!" said Carmen, "The Ancestress Coven cursed Domino! There's only a handful of Dominoians left, so it should be someone of that race to do it! When the time comes, I'll kill Vicky!"
"You've already killed Icy," said Kurt, "I want to kill Vicky! I'm gonna put a round between her eyes!"
"I want to rip her head off!" said Mace.
"I'll beat her to a pulp!" said Kegan.
"I'll kick her head in!" Payton.
"This is getting us nowhere!" said Stella, "all this arguing over whom gets to kill whom, it's just making us all feel bad."
"She's right," said Brandon, "let's not talk about that right now."
"Fine with me," said Elise, "but I'll say this now and get it over with. Darcy is mine. I will destroy her, and if anyone here gets to her first, just get out of my way. If anyone of you interferes with me, then you'll face a curse of my own. That's all I have to say."
"Okay then," Bloom, "we'll worry about Vicky later. But there's another problem we have to deal with."
Bloom and Carmen then told Faragonda what had been discovered about the items Vicky had been collecting, "we think they're part of a mind control machine that Zahidia and the new empire is putting together," said Carmen, "or, at least we think that's what they're doing."
"But whatever their plan really is," said Bloom, "we believe that an artifact is somewhere in Alfea, possibly in the library. The Trix tried to find it when they last attacked Alfea, and we're positive that they'll try again."
"Then there's no other alternative," said Faragonda, "we must find this artifact, whatever it is, and move it away from Alfea as soon as possible."
"You can count on us to find it, Ms. F!" said Stella, while Flora, Musa, Brandon, Sky, Carmen and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"How can it be killing you!" Stormy asked, "isn't it dark magic?"
"It should be," said Vicky, "but the dark ember was made that way from a piece of good magic, magic that can destroy as well as create, but good nonetheless. The ritual the Ancestress Coven used to corrupt the ember was flawed, and the corruption was wearing off, and still is. Even more so, the other ritual, the one that put the dark ember in me when I was just a baby, that was flawed as well. All in all, I was dieing, and I still am, but not as quickly as before.
"Right after I graduated from Cloud Tower, I sought out the handful of supporters of The Ancestress coven who were still alive and free. I took me nearly a year, and nearly cost me my life, but I tracked down a witch who could help me. She and several other witches were the ones who modified my body so that it would contain the dark ember and keep it dark. I was stronger, faster and had more power than ever before, and even more, I was alive.
"But I was told that this was only a temporary reprieve. Within a few years the dark ember would began destroying me from the inside again. If I didn't find a more permanent solution soon, I would soon burn up. I still hadn't found a permanent solution when I joined with Zahidia and the new empire, but thanks to the resources of the empire, I discovered a potion that would keep the dark ember from destroying me, and so far, the potion is has worked.
"The only drawback is that I need to keep taking it on a regular basis, and soon I'll need to take it in greater and greater quantities as my body adapts to it. But by then I will, hopefully, have found a better means of keeping me alive."
"If this dark ember, flawed as it is, is killing you," said Naz, "why not get rid of it?"
"Yeah," said Kevin, "if it's that much of a pain, why keep it?"
"I've often thought about removing the dark ember," said Vicky, "I've even came close to actually doing it back before I had my body modified, back when I was nearly paralyzed with pain at times. But then, we wouldn't be having this conversation if I did remove it, for the dark ember is embedded in my heart, and the only way to get it out is to cut out my heart in the process.
"But I won't be removing the dark ember, for despite all the pain it gives me, I gives also great pleasure. I have the same magic as Bloom, the complete opposite, but the same, and that is almost worth it. And it'll be even more with it when I use my dark ember to destroy Bloom once and for all!"
"I'm sure it will," said Diaspro, "but you may not live long enough to achieve that victory."
"Oh, I forgot you were here," said an irate Vicky, "I've told you my story, but it's clear that you want something else. So what is it?"
"Only to help," said Diaspro in a tone that dripped with mock sympathy, "I am very close to perfecting my race of super soldiers. I estimate that the first set of prototypes will be ready in a manner of days, two weeks at the most."
"What do you want?" Vicky insisted.
"I will help find a way to save your life, Vicky," said Diaspro, "I will use my incredible intelect and mastery of genetic manipulation to discover a means of preventing your demise. In return, you must renounce your claim on Bloom. When the time come, I and I alone will destroy her!"
"I can't make that promise," said Vicky, "Zahidia has commanded that Bloom is to be destroyed at all cost. I cannot simply defeat her and let you walk in and take the glory. If my sisters and comrades and I get the chance to finish Bloom once and for all, we'll take it. If you want her dead so bad, you destroy her."
"Well then forget that I ever made the offer," said Diaspro. She got up and went to the door, "I'll let myself out. Enjoy what's left of your life, Vicky."
"Oh just go away, you f#ck$ng psychopath!" snapped Icy, "we don't need you! We'll find a way to save Vicky, so just go back to your playroom and fiddle yourself with your test tubes like we all know you do!"
"Your insults only amuse yourself," said Diaspro, "I have other things to do than to banter," she blew Icy as kiss and left.
"What a weirdo," said James.
"Remind me again why Zahidia puts up with that lunatic?" Trabon asked.
"Because she promised Zahidia an army of super soldiers," said Vicky, "and unless she produces miraculous results soon, then she'll be the one begging for help."
"Just so long as she doesn't come begging to us," said Darcy, "that psycho fairy makes me want to throw up sometimes."
"Me to," said Stormy.
"Me three," said Icy, but in her mind, she really didn't mind Diaspro all that much. Come to think of it, Icy was beginning to like Diaspro somewhat. But that wasn't something she would share with the others, no, not at all.
"There's still time for me," said Vicky, "it'll be years, decades before the potion won't be able to help me anymore, so we'll figure out something by then. So now that we've gotten that out of the way, I think we should get back to work."
"Figuring out a plan to destroy Bloom," said Darcy.
"I think I have a plan," said Naz, "one that might just work."
Once Diaspro was back in her lab she took out her cellphone and called her mysterious mistress, "she didn't go for it. Vicky, she didn't take the bait."
"And unfortunate setback," said the mistress, "you said that the DNA sample you already have of Victoria isn't enough, that you need her in your clutches to fully experiment on."
"That is true," said Diaspro, "but now I know her weakness. It's only a matter of time before I have her under my power."
"Time is not something you have much of," said the mistress, "you still need to complete your other tasks."
"I know," said an annoyed Diaspro, "I'm almost finished with the super soldier project."
"I mean getting Darcy under your thumb," said the mistress, "you already have a hold over Icy and Stormy, you've had it since you've brought them back to life. We need all four of The Trix under our control before the Construct is fully assembled and online. Only then can we move against Zahidia and take control over the new R'leyh empire, and with it, the Magical Dimension and the rest of the universe."
"I know that to," said Diaspro, "and I know the clock is ticking. Relax, I'll have what you asked for by the deadline, all of it."
"For your sake, you'd better, or you'll wish that you were rotting away in prison." With that the line disconnected.
"You'll be the one wishing that you were locked away in a cold, dark cell when I'm done with you, bitch," said Diaspro as she got back to work.
The end of chapter 27.
The dragon princess and her companions will be forced to confront their greatest terrors, while the dark souls search for that which they have been tasked to do. One will be at the mercy of another, but the seed of qualm will be planted.
Next chapter: Of Fear and Doubt
'for those with wings, fly to your dreams'